A Letter from the Knock-out Champ

March 23, 2010

That's right. I won knock out during our gym time on the 19th. It was a goal that was met, and that included Elders, mind you ;). I thought to myself when I won...I'm writing home about this one--Eric will be proud. But I'm not going to get too prideful about it. I have decided my competitive nature needs to be swept under the rug for now.... I think the Lord is trying to keep me in check. The next day I woke up with a cold, so I haven't really felt up to playing b-ball since. I feel a lot better today though, so don't worry momma.

Good week in the MTC. I am setting some personal goals for learning Spanish. One thing is to still review, so in order not to get too comfortable with my Spanish I am going to try and master the tenses and conjugations this week. It is a lofty goal, but I think I will be able to do it with the Lord's help. I am learning a lot of new Spanish, though, so there is much to study. I also want to try and get through the Book of Mormon once more before I head out of the MTC. Pray for me.

Thank you for the updates on March Madness!!!!! One of my teachers told me that BYU was playing Kansas...he didn't clarify that by Kansas he meant K-State...and I thought I was missing the game that I have waited years to see! I confessed that though I go to BYU I would be cheering for KU. That got me A LOT of flack from the district. In fact when we played games that night, it was team Jayhawks vs. Cougars. Intense. I was glad to find out that it wasn't in fact KU that they played. I didn't feel so torn that way. It's still lame that all our teams have lost though. Ni modo. That's all for my Babylon thoughts. I just thought I would share.

I have decided that my favorite hymn so far in Spanish is “Senor, Te Necesito” (I Need Thee Every Hour). It is so pretty in Spanish...most songs are I have decided. I LOVE singing in Spanish, and praying in Spanish is so great too. I love the language!

We taught the second lesson in the TRC yesterday, and our teacher Hno. Rosales (who is certainly not known for withholding criticism) told my comp and me that he had a hard time finding things to improve! My comp and I talked later, and we both found things we could improve though. It went really well, and I could feel the Spirit as we talked with our investigator. We invited her to be baptized and she accepted! YAY! Haha. I know it's only fake, but it was exciting none the less. Next week we teach 30 minutes in Spanish! Pray for us.

Well, here's my very simple testimony in Espanol:

Yo se que Dios vive, y El contesta nuestros oraciones. Yo se que Jose Smith restauro la Iglesia verdadera y es un Profeta de Dios. Yo se que Jesucristo es nuestro Salvador y nos ama muchisimo. Soy agredecio por el Expiacion de Jesucristo. Yo se que El Libro de Mormon es la palabara de Dios y es verdadera. Yo amo el Evangelio!

I love this Gospel. I love this mission. I am so grateful for the experiences that I have had this week. This was the first week that I really felt the mission begin to set in. I think part of that was I got a tiny bit home sick for the first time, but I am so grateful to be where I am right now. I know this is where I am supposed to be. This is the most important thing that I have ever done, and I must rise to the call. There is a lot of work to be done. I am so grateful for the tender mercies that the Lord gives to me each day. Tell everyone in the ward back home hello/hola for me! And mom, tell all my amigas in Relief Society that I'm so grateful that they let me practice my Spanish with them each Sunday. Hopefully, when I get back we'll be able to talk more.